Montgomerie maintains lead at Senior Open

RETRANSMISSION TO CORRECT NAME - Bernhard Langer reacts as he watches his birdie putt on the ninth green in the second round of play at the 2014 U.S. Senior Open golf tournament at Oak Tree National in Edmond, Okla., Friday, July 11, 2014. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

EDMOND, Okla. — Colin Montgomerie shot an even-par 71 on Friday on the second day of the U.S. Senior Open and leads Scott Dunlap by one stroke.

Montgomerie opened with a 65 on Thursday. Dunlap had a 69 in the first round and a 68 in the second to get to 5 under for the tournament.

Dunlap was at 2 under after starting on the back nine, and then went back to the front nine and birdied Nos. 2, 5 and 7 on his way to a 32.

“I have been particularly good with the putter this week,” he said. “Been tidy. I have made a couple, made all my short ones. You know, those will be big in any tournament, for sure, but especially a major.”

Bernhard Langer, who leads the Champions Tour with three wins this season, moved into a tie for the lead with a 3-under 32 on the front nine, and then grabbed the advantage with a birdie on 14. He had bogeys on 15 and 16, both on close misses, and then bogeyed 18 to finish at 4 under.

Langer is tied with Gene Sauers for the tournament. Sauers shot 69 on both the first two days.

Marco Dawson shot a 66 on the opening day, good for second place, but shot a 76 on Friday and fell to even.

Lance Ten Broeck took advantage of an early tee time and fired a 69 to go to 3 under for the tournament. Jeff Sluman shot a 69 on Friday, including an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole, and is at 2 under. Vijay Singh was at 5 under before shooting a 39 on the back nine to fall to 2 under.

Scott Verplank struggled on his home course and shot a 75 for the second straight day. He said he hasn’t played this course so poorly in 25 years.

“My golf game is not very good, and I’m going to have to figure out a way to play if I want to keep playing because whatever I’m doing isn’t working,” he said.